LERCs in Wales
Wales has complete coverage of Local Environmental Records Centres, all of which are ALERC Accredited:
LERC Wales
Cofnod are proud to be part of the UK's first national network of Local Environmental Records Centres (LERCs), with all four Welsh LERCs accredited by the Association of Local Environmental Records Centres (ALERC). Together we form LERC Wales, which helps to administer our national contracts and to source data. The four LERCs in Wales come together regularly to share best practice and we have our own shared system called Aderyn, which creates 'Data for Wales' from the four regional databases.
LERC Wales
LERC Wales is a 'not for profit' company formed by the four Welsh LERCs in 2015. Having this single company helps streamline our contracts with national partners and also allows us to coordinate efforts to source data. Each of the constituent Welsh LERCs are represented on the LERC Wales Board of Directors, along with the LERC Wales chair Paul Sinadurai, who provides impartial oversight.
The LERC Wales Board offically meets 4 times a year but the staff across the four Welsh LERCs meet more regularly, through working groups covering Data Management, Communications and IT. These help us share best practice and solve issues at the Wales level. LERC Wales also helps to coordinate our shared system Aderyn, providing Wales wide access to data and has a dedicated website where you can find our shared vision.
Aderyn
Aderyn is LERC Wales' system for accessing data. It is resourced through LERC Wales and provides a platform for sharing data from each of the four Welsh LERCs. Aderyn has a suite of powerful tools for querying and accessing data. For registered users, such as our national partners, they can use the detailed search and reporting tools, with high resolution mapped data and personalised search history.
If you're interested in accessing data about what wildlife is in your area you can use the What's in my Area? public search tool. Or if you want to know about species distribution across Wales, you can use the Distribution Map tool. Sometimes its best to try these first before contacting individual LERCs, but please remember these tools should not be used for commercial projects and are no replacement for the detailed data searches offered by the individual LERCs.
LERC Wales App
LERC Wales has its own bilingual (Welsh and English) app, which you can use on your smartphone to record the wildlife you see. The app is available for Apple and Android phones and once installed it will use your phone's location to help locate what you saw and attach photos straight from your phone's camera. The LERC Wales App is part of the iRecord suite of recording apps and the data is stored online for Cofnod to access from iRecord. As such please be aware that there may be a delay in us adding your LERC Wales App records to our database. If you want your records to appear sooner, why not try our own Online Recording System; like the App it has lots of great tools to help you record the wildlife you see.
FAQs - LERCs
How do Local Environmental Records Centres (LERCs) operate
How many LERCs are there in Wales?
There are 4 LERCs covering the whole of Wales, meaning Wales has full national coverage of LERCs. They are regionally distributed and have a website which helps you navigate to each LERCs website.
Do Welsh LERCs work together?
Welsh LERCs share best practice, national data and provide national services through systems like Aderyn and the LERC Wales App. They also hold regular working group meetings and staff seminars to help harmonise what they do, acting together to benefit wildlife across Wales and provide the most comprehensive data across our region.
Are Welsh LERCs Accredited?
All four LERCs in Wales have achieved ALERC Accreditation, meaning they offer a similar high level of service to their data providers and customers.
Are there other LERCs across the UK?
There are LERCs in most parts of the UK. In England they tend to cover each individual county, although some regions, like Wales, cover several Local Authtorities. The best way to find other LERCs across the UK is using the LERC Finder tool, which was designed by Cofnod.
On the Record
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